When tragic deaths occur under intense media scrutiny, there is often a reflexive grasp at greater meaning. But our pent-up desire to address serious, overarching problems, sometimes leads to a flood of misdirected emotion and protest.

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The following well-balanced and nutritious Friendship Meals will be served for lunch at the Great Bend Senior Center, 2005 Kansas Ave. Meals are served with milk; donations for coffee and tea are accepted.

The following meals will be served March 23 through March 27. The secondary schools also have available daily: second choices, chef salad, combo lunches and choice of vegetables and dessert. The breakfast menu is offered only to students in USD 428. Menus are subject to change without notice. Milk served with all meals. All meals as offered meet USDA nutritional guidelines.

A three part "Responsive Discipline" parenting workshop is set to begin soon. The class, led by Donna Krug, Barton County Extension Family & Consumer Science Agent, will be held from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, March 31, April 7, and 14, at the Barton County Extension Office. Registration is $5 which covers the cost of materials. Program participants will learn why children misbehave and strategies for preventing misbehavior. Call Krug at 793-1910 if you have questions or to register.

The country breathed a collective sigh of relief following Hillary Clinton's masterful press conference last week, held in response to the controversy surrounding her email troubles. "It's all fine. Don't worry about it. We got it covered. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Over the weekend, my seven year old granddaughter, Calyn, excitedly told me, "Grandma, I'm going to join the Walking School Bus when it starts April 1st." "That's wonderful," I replied. It truly is wonderful to see two communities in Barton County, (both Great Bend and Hoisington) adopting this successful program and modeling it to other communities.

In celebration of Ag Day and Ag Month, the agricultural organizations in Kansas partnered together to launch a virtual tour of a dairy farm. The video, which has been posted on the KSRE YouTube channel, features a Kansas dairy farm and can be used as an educational tool for classrooms and organizations statewide.

Over the last few weeks this column has explored what acidity is, what determined the native (original) soil pH condition present, and how agricultural practices have affected soil pH over time. This week wraps this up and discusses how producers can adjust soil pH to optimize crop production. Remember for the crops common to our area the optimal pH is approximately 6.3 to 7.3 and acid soils have pH readings lower than 7 while basic soils are above 7. While soils in our area may have pH readings in the 8 range, typically they aren't like the ...